#1110 old is new

I was recently enjoying a summer day at a public terrace along the lake. A group of middle-aged women pulled out a selfie stick and crowded together to take a photo. I was surprised to see this demographic using a stick, but even more surprised when a twenty-something guy approached the table and asked if he could borrow it. The woman shared it, and then moments later was giving a tutorial on how to sync the remote and actually use the stick.It was refreshing to see the older generation actually teaching the younger crowd something about the latest technology, and this young guy being confident enough to ask for help from someone who could have been his mother.There aren’t a lot of opportunities for inter-generational interactions these days. My new neighbors next door said they were attracted to the area because there are a mix of ages here, something that never occurred to me before. Someone pointed out that it is present in the community band whose concerts I attend in the park, but for the most part people have contact with people like themselves.What can you do today to have a conversation with someone who is decades apart from you in age? Try to understand their perspective to enhance your world view and learn something new — especially if it is the “latest latest” as depicted in the cartoon below.

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Dr. beth triplett is the owner of leadership dots, offering coaching, training and consulting for new supervisors. She also shares daily lessons on her leadershipdots blog. Her work is based on the leadership dots philosophy that change happens through the intentional connecting of small steps in the short term to the big picture in the long term.